Royalty: Chapter 2
OMG, yes, I hit a weekly deadline for once! So proud!! Okay, so this chapter is just over half as short as the first, but any more writing than this would've seemed unnecessary...
Chapter 2: Azulon’s Dying Wish.
Ursa had to make haste as she swept in secrecy into the servant’s quarters. She glanced around at the attire hanging from the walls… it was disgusting! She had never seen the servant’s clothes look just so disgusting! She sighed, swiped a set of clothes about her size and ran into the surprisingly spacious nearby closet. If this all managed to end well, she would order that the servants be permitted to use the laundry room. Immediately.
“Rumour has it that there’s some commotion between the Fire Lord and Prince Ozai…”
Ursa stifled a gasp. She had just finished changing when she heard voices outside, very close by. Pressing her ear against the door, she caught some of their whispered conversation. Zuko’s name was mentioned, as was her own… Her eyes widened in fear as she heard the voices disappear out into the hallway. News was spreading too quickly, which meant that she would have to act evermore hastily… She hid her royal clothing in a shelf between a wall and some cobweb-covered boxes. When she was sure there was nobody in eye’s view of the closet, she slipped out of both doorways and headed for the kitchens.
Upon arrival, she stood still at the entrance. Unsure of how she would request the Fire Lord's bedtime goblet, she would have to think for a moment before entering… Opening the door seconds later, she stood at the entrance and shut the door behind her. With her hair still down, Ursa was able to cover a fair portion of her face and she had hoped that it would be enough it disguise her identity until the task had been completed.
She had to say, she wasn’t used to not being looked at upon her occasional entrance here… However, she pushed the feeling of unfamiliarity to the back of her mind and walked forwards. “The Fire Lord’s late night beverages, please?” she requested in a higher-pitched voice than her own.
A large female kitchen worker turned towards her, wearing a fixated expression of impatience Ursa made the mistake of frowning at. Receiving a frightening glare, the woman grabbed up a tray and stormed towards her. “You’re late, wench!” she said in a deep, gruff voice; shoving a tray into Ursa’s front, very nearly pushing her over.
Grabbing it quickly before the contents of the goblet spilt, Ursa glared indignantly at the worker as she walked away. The time Azulon usually decided to rest was 10 minutes away!! Biting back a furious retort, she rushed out of the kitchens and towards the bedchambers.
Ursa turned the corner she knew all too well and advanced through the hallway to the Royal Family's bedchambers. Suddenly, one of the elite guards that had rushed inside Ozai’s bedchamber earlier on put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. “… Do I know you?”
Ursa, her hair masking some of her features, did not turn to look at the guard. She replied to his question with the same higher, unremarkable-sounding tone of voice. “No.”
The guard looked towards his partner, who merely shrugged and stated, “Probably just one of the Fire Lord’s waitresses…”
The guard, nonetheless, frowned at Ursa. “I swear I’ve seen you before...”
“I work in the storage crypts of the palace… I’ve been told to take this to the Fire Lord. They sometimes send me on small errands… … you may have seen me then…” Ursa replied.
The guard’s partner merely shrugged when the guard passed a glance to him. The guard removed his hand from her shoulder. “Good to hear, the palace is real busy at the moment and we need somebody to take care of the smaller errands around here. Be back here when you’re done and we’ll think of something.”
“Yes… of course.” Ursa bowed her head one too many times at them before walking away and up the corridor.
“… Odd, that one…” the guard said; turning to his partner who, yet again, merely shrugged his shoulders.
“Must be from the colonies…” his partner replied, turning back where he was originally facing.
“Probably…” the guard muttered in reply, also turning back to the way he was originally facing.
____________________________________________
Ursa had placed a scroll on the left side of the tray, and she had placed the beverage on the right side of the tray… Feeling sick, she continued to ascend forwards. Eventually making it nearby the Fire Lord’s quarters, she looked ahead with uncertainty… She brushed it off. Fire Lord, step-father, whatever the position, he has ordered her son’s death… His decision had to be diverted, no matter what…
Ursa approached the door to the Fire Lord’s quarters… Unpleasant images concerning the outcome of this visit reeling through her mind uncontrollably… “Oh, what is going on?!” Ursa had to think to herself, holding a hand to her forehead. She had gone much too far while confronting Ozai, to the point where she had triggered her white fire and almost burnt him alive with it… Ursa was sure that after giving firebending up, the danger of that happening would not return… however, it seemed like she was wrong.
Forcing her mind back to her mission; Ursa stepped close to the double doors of Fire Lord Azulon’s bedchamber… A young girl’s noxious screaming suddenly echoed in her mind; somehow making Ursa tense with hesitance as she placed a hand against one of the doors. She suddenly felt sick with fear… Not because of at the task at hand, necessarily, but for her father-in-law’s life… It seemed futile, if not reasonably possible, to expect to leave the room still lily-white once she had entered.
“I’m not a murderer…” she chanted in her mind, forcing the pained screaming still ringing around her skull to the back of her thoughts as she knocked on the door.
_____________________________________________________________________
“What?” snapped a familiar voice from behind the doors, Ursa took a deep breath as she opened the door.
“My apologies, my lord, I am here to serve you your late night beverage…” Ursa said, again using her fake voice.
Azulon did not look up from his bed. “Bring it in…” he ordered gruffly.
Ursa walked inside, closing the door behind her and placed the tray on Azulon’s bedside table. “Also, my Lord… The High Councillor passed by and, not wishing to disturb you, told me to be sure that this contract reaches you…” Ursa took the scroll from the left hand side of the tray and handed it to Azulon.
Not even looking at Ursa as he unrolled the parchment, he skimmed through the words inked onto the dull sheet. “My brush and ink?” Azulon continued; taking a slight glance at what he thought was a mere servant. Frowning slightly, he held his hand out for the ink pot and the writing brush located on a writing table beside the wall. Once Ursa handed them to him, he scrawled his signature quickly underneath the end of the final symbol.
Ursa took the ink, brush and re-rolled contract from him. “Thank you.” Then, when Azulon had turned to order her away, she put the tray onto Azulon’s writing desk and spoke using her normal tone of voice. “I must speak with you, Fire Lord Azulon.” Ursa brought her hair away from her face and tied it to its usual style.
“Ursa!?” Azulon gave a start, horrified. “What is the meaning of this? Why are you dressed in such filth!?”
“I had to disguise myself to avoid my husband…” Ursa bowed her head. “He is being unreasonable…”
Azulon sneered. “The wretched boy abuses what little order he has in this palace…”
“I’ve noticed…” Ursa said bleakly in reply.
“You requested to speak with me?” Azulon queried, sitting up and interlacing his fingers.
Ursa looked at him, temporarily unsure of what to say. When she opened her mouth to speak, Azulon interjected with a simple request of his own. “Sit down.”
Ursa, looking momentarily confused, drew up the nearest chair and sat down as requested. “I’m sure you are aware of Ozai’s obsession to serve his nation…”
“He wants the throne for himself…” Azulon muttered in disdain. Ursa’s eyes widened for a moment. “His nettlesome, constant, selfish pining… his use of my granddaughter… it is all a façade behind an upcoming, treasonous act for Prince Ozai’s own indulgence… I do not suppose you were aware of this?” Azulon’s eyes were now on Ursa’s vague expression.
“You’re only half-correct, Azulon…” Ursa had to think to herself. She chose her words carefully. “I was made aware tonight, when I found out about our son’s sentence to death.”
“Then you understand?” Azulon asked in a low voice.
“No…” Ursa kept a straight voice. “Truthfully, my lord, I do not… Please do not mistake my concern for defiance; it is merely a mother’s plea.” Ursa’s hands shook as she clasped them together. “Zuko does not deserve to die!”
“I’m sorry…” Azulon looked away.
“My lord, there has to be another way of dealing with Ozai!” Ursa spoke desperately, about ready to spring out of her seat.
“There is not.” Azulon said, impatience emerging in his voice.
Ursa paused, and then dropped onto the floor from her chair. “Ozai only wishes to please you and his nation-”
“But he is not!” Azulon snapped, making Ursa stand and draw back slightly. “If my son wishes to please me, he will stay out of the way and stop wasting my time!”
“Tell him so.” Ursa replied from where she stood.
“I have told my son one too many times… He does not listen to anyone. I must teach him a lesson in respect, and this is the only way to put him in his place…” Azulon muttered bitterly.
“No… No…” Ursa shook her head as she spoke.
“There is nothing you can do about it, Princess Ursa… … Leave me…” Azulon laid back down, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.
Ursa bowed her head. Why would nothing work out in her favour? Looking up again, she decided to try Azulon’s patience once more. “Zuko is not to blame for my husband’s insolence…”
Azulon sighed, a small lick of fire emerged from his mouth and dissolved in the air, “Sacrifices must be made…” he sat up once more. “I know you are a kind soul, Ursa… Much like my son, Iroh and your father, Kuzon was… But my decision is final. Leave me.” Azulon laid down once again, closing his eyes.
Ursa sadly acknowledged the state of the situation. If Azulon did not die tonight, Zuko would… Zuko had to come first…
Ursa turned around, took Zuko’s dagger out from her left sleeve and turned, throwing herself onto the old man. Her emotions ran frantic through adrenaline as she fought to hold Azulon down; she had to keep her firebending under control. If Azulon were marked, it would arouse suspicion against Ozai and Zuko may suffer for it before she could reach him… With her whole weight now on his ribcage and arms, she unsheathed the knife, held her hand against his thyroid and rested the dagger against the centre of his neck.
“Firebend, and don’t think I’ll hesitate to make your death more painful!” Ursa muttered clearly and viciously.
Azulon, in a state of shock, was rendered unable to speak. He’d wondered just what had hit him. This was not the innocent little girl he’d known and ordered raised from the age of 9.
Holding the knife closer, Ursa let go of his thyroid and reached inside her right sleeve. She took a small vial of poison out from it… The poison was a ‘silent killer’ given to her by Ozai… Wherever in the world her husband had managed to obtain such a shady substance was beyond her and, in all honesty, she had not wanted to think about what kind of dark objects Ozai might be secretly stocking somewhere in the palace. Flicking the lid away, careful to watch where it landed, she brought the vial to Azulon’s lips. “Open your mouth.” Ursa muttered, again using a vicious, clear voice.
Azulon’s eyes remained wide with fear and surprise, lips firmly pursed. Ursa growled and swiftly drew the knife away from Azulon’s windpipes and against his jugular vein. “Open… your mouth!”
Azulon did as instructed. “Ursa-!!” Azulon, voice rasp and suffused with fear, did not have time to finish his sentence as Ursa poured the liquid poison from the vial against his lower lip and into his throat.
Azulon began to choke. Ursa sheathed the knife, leapt from him and Azulon sat up, holding on to his throat wheezing and coughing. Ursa, picking up the small lid of the vial, put them both back into her sleeve and ran to the double doors, burying her face in them as Azulon continued to die…
“Treason…” Azulon spluttered from the floor, a clawed-hand outstretched towards Ursa, voice lowering. “I did not expect it of you…”
Ursa’s eyes shut in anguish. She untied her hair and replied in a small voice. “Neither did I…” She walked over to the dying lord’s writing desk and took the scroll from the tray resting upon it. Unrolling the contract, she held it up against the air and, inflaming a section of the parchment with her fingertips, using her fingernails as a guide; she carefully set the whole section alight with fire. Azulon’s dying spluttering had ceased, and he now looked up at Ursa with narrowed eyes, he had mere minutes left before death would take him away…
Ursa absorbed the fire back into her fingertips; the previous symbols written on the parchment had disappeared and replaced themselves with new ones. “Your dying wish, Azulon…” she stated. “You will be succeeded by your second son… I’m sorry it had to come to this…”
She looked towards the door, not sure if she was being overheard or not. Deciding her lord husband would probably not want to listen to the sounds of his father being assassinated any less than she would, she continued, “But not if I can leave this palace, with my children, before I am forced to see him once again…”
Azulon laughed silently. “You dirty… little… traitor… You will never make it out of here alive, let alone with your children!”
“Really?” Ursa asked in an amused voice, masking all mixtures of emotions she desperately wanted to let go of.
“Wherever I am going…” Azulon’s eyes dropped closed as he muttered his final words. “You will be there very shortly, dear daughter-in-law…” He then fell silent.
Ursa approached Azulon after a few moments. Kneeling down, she reached a hand out slowly towards him. Azulon suddenly grabbed her wrist, making her shriek in fright as he dropped dead. The damage to Azulon was internal. No blood had been expelled through all his coughing, nothing suspicious had appeared on his skin and no signs of a struggle were evident… He appeared as serene as though he had merely died in his sleep…
Prying the dead Fire Lord’s fingers from her wrist, she hauled Azulon onto his bed and, shifting him to a sleeping position, neatly threw his bed sheet over him. Looking at the Fire Lord’s still face, she grimaced as a single tear fell from each of her eyes. “I’m so sorry…” She walked to the writing table once again and, picking the goblet up, considered whether drinking some of the beverage or not would draw less suspicion… Deciding against it, she replaced the goblet and walked towards the double doors.
____________________________________________
Ursa shut the doors behind her, holding back a cry of shock at what she had just done… Scarcely believing what she had just done…
Chapter 2: Azulon’s Dying Wish.
Ursa had to make haste as she swept in secrecy into the servant’s quarters. She glanced around at the attire hanging from the walls… it was disgusting! She had never seen the servant’s clothes look just so disgusting! She sighed, swiped a set of clothes about her size and ran into the surprisingly spacious nearby closet. If this all managed to end well, she would order that the servants be permitted to use the laundry room. Immediately.
“Rumour has it that there’s some commotion between the Fire Lord and Prince Ozai…”
Ursa stifled a gasp. She had just finished changing when she heard voices outside, very close by. Pressing her ear against the door, she caught some of their whispered conversation. Zuko’s name was mentioned, as was her own… Her eyes widened in fear as she heard the voices disappear out into the hallway. News was spreading too quickly, which meant that she would have to act evermore hastily… She hid her royal clothing in a shelf between a wall and some cobweb-covered boxes. When she was sure there was nobody in eye’s view of the closet, she slipped out of both doorways and headed for the kitchens.
Upon arrival, she stood still at the entrance. Unsure of how she would request the Fire Lord's bedtime goblet, she would have to think for a moment before entering… Opening the door seconds later, she stood at the entrance and shut the door behind her. With her hair still down, Ursa was able to cover a fair portion of her face and she had hoped that it would be enough it disguise her identity until the task had been completed.
She had to say, she wasn’t used to not being looked at upon her occasional entrance here… However, she pushed the feeling of unfamiliarity to the back of her mind and walked forwards. “The Fire Lord’s late night beverages, please?” she requested in a higher-pitched voice than her own.
A large female kitchen worker turned towards her, wearing a fixated expression of impatience Ursa made the mistake of frowning at. Receiving a frightening glare, the woman grabbed up a tray and stormed towards her. “You’re late, wench!” she said in a deep, gruff voice; shoving a tray into Ursa’s front, very nearly pushing her over.
Grabbing it quickly before the contents of the goblet spilt, Ursa glared indignantly at the worker as she walked away. The time Azulon usually decided to rest was 10 minutes away!! Biting back a furious retort, she rushed out of the kitchens and towards the bedchambers.
Ursa turned the corner she knew all too well and advanced through the hallway to the Royal Family's bedchambers. Suddenly, one of the elite guards that had rushed inside Ozai’s bedchamber earlier on put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. “… Do I know you?”
Ursa, her hair masking some of her features, did not turn to look at the guard. She replied to his question with the same higher, unremarkable-sounding tone of voice. “No.”
The guard looked towards his partner, who merely shrugged and stated, “Probably just one of the Fire Lord’s waitresses…”
The guard, nonetheless, frowned at Ursa. “I swear I’ve seen you before...”
“I work in the storage crypts of the palace… I’ve been told to take this to the Fire Lord. They sometimes send me on small errands… … you may have seen me then…” Ursa replied.
The guard’s partner merely shrugged when the guard passed a glance to him. The guard removed his hand from her shoulder. “Good to hear, the palace is real busy at the moment and we need somebody to take care of the smaller errands around here. Be back here when you’re done and we’ll think of something.”
“Yes… of course.” Ursa bowed her head one too many times at them before walking away and up the corridor.
“… Odd, that one…” the guard said; turning to his partner who, yet again, merely shrugged his shoulders.
“Must be from the colonies…” his partner replied, turning back where he was originally facing.
“Probably…” the guard muttered in reply, also turning back to the way he was originally facing.
____________________________________________
Ursa had placed a scroll on the left side of the tray, and she had placed the beverage on the right side of the tray… Feeling sick, she continued to ascend forwards. Eventually making it nearby the Fire Lord’s quarters, she looked ahead with uncertainty… She brushed it off. Fire Lord, step-father, whatever the position, he has ordered her son’s death… His decision had to be diverted, no matter what…
Ursa approached the door to the Fire Lord’s quarters… Unpleasant images concerning the outcome of this visit reeling through her mind uncontrollably… “Oh, what is going on?!” Ursa had to think to herself, holding a hand to her forehead. She had gone much too far while confronting Ozai, to the point where she had triggered her white fire and almost burnt him alive with it… Ursa was sure that after giving firebending up, the danger of that happening would not return… however, it seemed like she was wrong.
Forcing her mind back to her mission; Ursa stepped close to the double doors of Fire Lord Azulon’s bedchamber… A young girl’s noxious screaming suddenly echoed in her mind; somehow making Ursa tense with hesitance as she placed a hand against one of the doors. She suddenly felt sick with fear… Not because of at the task at hand, necessarily, but for her father-in-law’s life… It seemed futile, if not reasonably possible, to expect to leave the room still lily-white once she had entered.
“I’m not a murderer…” she chanted in her mind, forcing the pained screaming still ringing around her skull to the back of her thoughts as she knocked on the door.
_____________________________________________________________________
“What?” snapped a familiar voice from behind the doors, Ursa took a deep breath as she opened the door.
“My apologies, my lord, I am here to serve you your late night beverage…” Ursa said, again using her fake voice.
Azulon did not look up from his bed. “Bring it in…” he ordered gruffly.
Ursa walked inside, closing the door behind her and placed the tray on Azulon’s bedside table. “Also, my Lord… The High Councillor passed by and, not wishing to disturb you, told me to be sure that this contract reaches you…” Ursa took the scroll from the left hand side of the tray and handed it to Azulon.
Not even looking at Ursa as he unrolled the parchment, he skimmed through the words inked onto the dull sheet. “My brush and ink?” Azulon continued; taking a slight glance at what he thought was a mere servant. Frowning slightly, he held his hand out for the ink pot and the writing brush located on a writing table beside the wall. Once Ursa handed them to him, he scrawled his signature quickly underneath the end of the final symbol.
Ursa took the ink, brush and re-rolled contract from him. “Thank you.” Then, when Azulon had turned to order her away, she put the tray onto Azulon’s writing desk and spoke using her normal tone of voice. “I must speak with you, Fire Lord Azulon.” Ursa brought her hair away from her face and tied it to its usual style.
“Ursa!?” Azulon gave a start, horrified. “What is the meaning of this? Why are you dressed in such filth!?”
“I had to disguise myself to avoid my husband…” Ursa bowed her head. “He is being unreasonable…”
Azulon sneered. “The wretched boy abuses what little order he has in this palace…”
“I’ve noticed…” Ursa said bleakly in reply.
“You requested to speak with me?” Azulon queried, sitting up and interlacing his fingers.
Ursa looked at him, temporarily unsure of what to say. When she opened her mouth to speak, Azulon interjected with a simple request of his own. “Sit down.”
Ursa, looking momentarily confused, drew up the nearest chair and sat down as requested. “I’m sure you are aware of Ozai’s obsession to serve his nation…”
“He wants the throne for himself…” Azulon muttered in disdain. Ursa’s eyes widened for a moment. “His nettlesome, constant, selfish pining… his use of my granddaughter… it is all a façade behind an upcoming, treasonous act for Prince Ozai’s own indulgence… I do not suppose you were aware of this?” Azulon’s eyes were now on Ursa’s vague expression.
“You’re only half-correct, Azulon…” Ursa had to think to herself. She chose her words carefully. “I was made aware tonight, when I found out about our son’s sentence to death.”
“Then you understand?” Azulon asked in a low voice.
“No…” Ursa kept a straight voice. “Truthfully, my lord, I do not… Please do not mistake my concern for defiance; it is merely a mother’s plea.” Ursa’s hands shook as she clasped them together. “Zuko does not deserve to die!”
“I’m sorry…” Azulon looked away.
“My lord, there has to be another way of dealing with Ozai!” Ursa spoke desperately, about ready to spring out of her seat.
“There is not.” Azulon said, impatience emerging in his voice.
Ursa paused, and then dropped onto the floor from her chair. “Ozai only wishes to please you and his nation-”
“But he is not!” Azulon snapped, making Ursa stand and draw back slightly. “If my son wishes to please me, he will stay out of the way and stop wasting my time!”
“Tell him so.” Ursa replied from where she stood.
“I have told my son one too many times… He does not listen to anyone. I must teach him a lesson in respect, and this is the only way to put him in his place…” Azulon muttered bitterly.
“No… No…” Ursa shook her head as she spoke.
“There is nothing you can do about it, Princess Ursa… … Leave me…” Azulon laid back down, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.
Ursa bowed her head. Why would nothing work out in her favour? Looking up again, she decided to try Azulon’s patience once more. “Zuko is not to blame for my husband’s insolence…”
Azulon sighed, a small lick of fire emerged from his mouth and dissolved in the air, “Sacrifices must be made…” he sat up once more. “I know you are a kind soul, Ursa… Much like my son, Iroh and your father, Kuzon was… But my decision is final. Leave me.” Azulon laid down once again, closing his eyes.
Ursa sadly acknowledged the state of the situation. If Azulon did not die tonight, Zuko would… Zuko had to come first…
Ursa turned around, took Zuko’s dagger out from her left sleeve and turned, throwing herself onto the old man. Her emotions ran frantic through adrenaline as she fought to hold Azulon down; she had to keep her firebending under control. If Azulon were marked, it would arouse suspicion against Ozai and Zuko may suffer for it before she could reach him… With her whole weight now on his ribcage and arms, she unsheathed the knife, held her hand against his thyroid and rested the dagger against the centre of his neck.
“Firebend, and don’t think I’ll hesitate to make your death more painful!” Ursa muttered clearly and viciously.
Azulon, in a state of shock, was rendered unable to speak. He’d wondered just what had hit him. This was not the innocent little girl he’d known and ordered raised from the age of 9.
Holding the knife closer, Ursa let go of his thyroid and reached inside her right sleeve. She took a small vial of poison out from it… The poison was a ‘silent killer’ given to her by Ozai… Wherever in the world her husband had managed to obtain such a shady substance was beyond her and, in all honesty, she had not wanted to think about what kind of dark objects Ozai might be secretly stocking somewhere in the palace. Flicking the lid away, careful to watch where it landed, she brought the vial to Azulon’s lips. “Open your mouth.” Ursa muttered, again using a vicious, clear voice.
Azulon’s eyes remained wide with fear and surprise, lips firmly pursed. Ursa growled and swiftly drew the knife away from Azulon’s windpipes and against his jugular vein. “Open… your mouth!”
Azulon did as instructed. “Ursa-!!” Azulon, voice rasp and suffused with fear, did not have time to finish his sentence as Ursa poured the liquid poison from the vial against his lower lip and into his throat.
Azulon began to choke. Ursa sheathed the knife, leapt from him and Azulon sat up, holding on to his throat wheezing and coughing. Ursa, picking up the small lid of the vial, put them both back into her sleeve and ran to the double doors, burying her face in them as Azulon continued to die…
“Treason…” Azulon spluttered from the floor, a clawed-hand outstretched towards Ursa, voice lowering. “I did not expect it of you…”
Ursa’s eyes shut in anguish. She untied her hair and replied in a small voice. “Neither did I…” She walked over to the dying lord’s writing desk and took the scroll from the tray resting upon it. Unrolling the contract, she held it up against the air and, inflaming a section of the parchment with her fingertips, using her fingernails as a guide; she carefully set the whole section alight with fire. Azulon’s dying spluttering had ceased, and he now looked up at Ursa with narrowed eyes, he had mere minutes left before death would take him away…
Ursa absorbed the fire back into her fingertips; the previous symbols written on the parchment had disappeared and replaced themselves with new ones. “Your dying wish, Azulon…” she stated. “You will be succeeded by your second son… I’m sorry it had to come to this…”
She looked towards the door, not sure if she was being overheard or not. Deciding her lord husband would probably not want to listen to the sounds of his father being assassinated any less than she would, she continued, “But not if I can leave this palace, with my children, before I am forced to see him once again…”
Azulon laughed silently. “You dirty… little… traitor… You will never make it out of here alive, let alone with your children!”
“Really?” Ursa asked in an amused voice, masking all mixtures of emotions she desperately wanted to let go of.
“Wherever I am going…” Azulon’s eyes dropped closed as he muttered his final words. “You will be there very shortly, dear daughter-in-law…” He then fell silent.
Ursa approached Azulon after a few moments. Kneeling down, she reached a hand out slowly towards him. Azulon suddenly grabbed her wrist, making her shriek in fright as he dropped dead. The damage to Azulon was internal. No blood had been expelled through all his coughing, nothing suspicious had appeared on his skin and no signs of a struggle were evident… He appeared as serene as though he had merely died in his sleep…
Prying the dead Fire Lord’s fingers from her wrist, she hauled Azulon onto his bed and, shifting him to a sleeping position, neatly threw his bed sheet over him. Looking at the Fire Lord’s still face, she grimaced as a single tear fell from each of her eyes. “I’m so sorry…” She walked to the writing table once again and, picking the goblet up, considered whether drinking some of the beverage or not would draw less suspicion… Deciding against it, she replaced the goblet and walked towards the double doors.
____________________________________________
Ursa shut the doors behind her, holding back a cry of shock at what she had just done… Scarcely believing what she had just done…